Mediocre Man Vs. Unemployment week 1

Last week was the end.

I showed up at work Monday morning (on time) and my boss announced that we were done. A coworker who had been previously released showed up so he and I and the other shipping guy hit the Bratskeller Pub for a nice extended lunch and a few Sam Adams Octoberfest's before heading back to the office for our exit interviews. Being slightly buzzed makes dealing with the retards in HR a little less annoying. So at noonish on Monday October 4, 2010 I officially became a member of the unemployed masses.

I woke up Tuesday and it felt almost like a vacation day--only without the cold dread of my inevitable return to work breathing down my neck. I made a short, kinda sorta list of goals Tuesday morning:

1. Continue to go to bed and get up at the same time I usually do. 

This will hopefully keep me from falling into the trap of staying up all night and sleeping all day. 

2. Get as much of my course work done for my current class as I can. 

My goal here is to finish all my assigned course work before the end of next week. I need to take my final a week early since the GF and I will be embarking on our Jamaican adventure during the last week of class. 

3. Establish a routine to keep myself from becoming too lazy and complacent in my unemployedness. 

Tuesday: I worked primarily on finishing the 4 page research paper I had been assigned on the first night of class and was due that evening (and in true 11th hour fashion hadn't started until the week before). I managed to bang the paper out and read a full chapter and complete one of the lab assignments. I was quite proud of the accomplishment of actually doing something productive.

Wednesday: I decided to tackle some of the clutter. I am a renowned neat freak and drive my GF crazy. She sees a few things on the table as no big deal, I see a few things on the table as a mess that will niggle at my brain until I clean it up. So Wednesday I spent cleaning, vacuuming, organizing, did a load of dishes, and generally picking up the house. Once that was out of the way I flopped down and proceeded to clean out the DVR by watching some neglected shows. (So far, not loving Undercovers as much as I loved Alias, but I have faith in J.J. Abrams to do me proud).

Thursday: By Thursday I was already feeling like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. That whole "vacation" feeling from Tuesday had already worn off and I was feeling more like a shut-in than a man on hiatus. On vacations I don't mind being cooped up in the house because I know my time of relaxation and rejuvination is limited, but that feeling has already turned to stir craziness. I did some more homework, picked up the house a little more, and finally scraped off the week old growth of beard I had been cultivating for my stint as a jobless bum.

 I didn't draw this, just found it here and thought it was funny.

Friday: "It's Friday... I aint doing shit!"

So sayeth my facebook status. I decided that, being Friday, it would be perfectly acceptable to do as little as humanly possible. I slouched around the house in my boxers and played WoW until noon (yes, I am a fat gamer geek) and didn't clean myself up until almost 1pm when I ordered lunch and brought food to the GF at work. After lunch I came back home and watched some more DVR (not enamored with Haven either. Cute lead actress but the acting is bad and the stories are kinda lame and played out. I shouldn't have expected much considering it is a Stephen King brainchild). 

The weekend was an average weekend. I decided Sunday afternoon to clean up the back yard while the GF was out at a friends birthday gig. I mowed, did a little raking, put away the patio furniture for the winter and made a Home Depot trip for some pavers to put the fire pit on. And since I had this newly situated fire pit I decided what better time to have a fire. I made a fire for myself and hung out alone in front of it with Pandora playing me some nice relaxing tunes (Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and Social Distortion). 

Week one wasn't so bad. I know for week two--and beyond--I will need to expand my list of "things to do when you're unemployed" to combat the stir crazies.

Medicore Man vs. Potpouri of everything

As I stated in my last entry, my company has finally begun to shut down. Things happened super fast. After our notices a few weeks ago we wrapped production, all our production people were released and we started breaking everything down. There are only like 10 of us left and it is super quiet. My coworker and I have been showing up to pretty much hang out and wait around in case something happens. Yesterday we both arrived a few minutes late and my fucktard of a boss chewed us out for not being on time. After that we sat around and waited all day for the dumpsters to be emptied (never happened) and left 2 hours early for lack of anything to do. Seriously? You are going to bitch because I am ten minutes late and I dont end up doing a fucking thing ALL DAY!?

My mind, it was boggled.

Boss man tells me that he wants to hold on to me and the other shipping guy until after the auction which is October 6th, I was hoping to be out of here before then.

In School related news, I am about midway through intro to IT already. My professor is actually pretty effing awesome, and he looks EXACTLY like Tommy lee Jones. There is also a kid in my class who could be Dane Cook's twin.

I've not been to the gym in almost 2 months (bad Rob! Bad!) But in my defense it had been quite hectic at work trying to get everything finalized. I was sweating my ass off for 8 hours a day and the last thing I had the energy to do at the end of it was truck my tired ass to the gym for another 2 hours of sweat and labor. Hopefully once I am finally released from purgatory I can get myself onto a better routine. My plan is to follow in the footsteps of my friend Nicki who has begun her journey to become a runner. I would like to start running and riding my bike and trying to eat healthier. We'll see.

And that's about that. I'm on the verge of stepping into the great unknown, and that is where this whole blog should get interesting. I stated in my original post that this blog was meant to chronicle my unemployment, job/career search and education. And this; hopefully, is the beginning.

Mediocre Man vs. The End of Days

I started this morning out in sort of a foul temper. Not for any particular reason other than that it's Monday, it's muggy, and it's Monday. My Facebook status read:

Dear Monday,
I hate you.
~R

 As soon as I walked in my boss was waiting for me to inform me that today was the day! The day we have all been awaiting for 3 years. The day we finally get our final 60 day termination notices! So I punched in and got the great news, after just over 10 years I will finally be done with this place on (or before) October 15, 2010. This works out perfectly. If I finish up before then I will continue to collect a weekly paycheck until 10/15 without actually having to come in (best case scenario), or I work up to the end and collect my severance package the week after the 15th (worst case scenario). Either way it is win/win. I will finish up, take a week off, and then the international girl of mystery and I are off to a much needed vacation in Jamaica for a week!!! ZOMG! Then I will come back and start looking for a nice gig that will allow me time to focus on school a little more while still having a little income. Plan is to not live off my severance but bank it and let it grow a little.

This calls for a happy dance!

Mediocre Man Vs. Intro to Photography

Intro to Photography has been fun. The Professor is fun and knowledgeable--if a little flighty. I had a great time and learned quite a bit about my camera. I am now a lot more comfortable taking my camera off of full-auto and venturing into the Av, Tv, and Manual settings on the dial. 

Our first graded project was to do a portrait for class. I originally intended to photograph my mom (the most beautiful woman in the world) but our schedules could never jive, so in accordance with my creative endeavors moniker (11th Hour Productions/Photography) I waited until the last possible moment to find a subject and start shooting. Fortunately my nieces are all friggin adorable and almost all of them like to ham it up in front of a camera. I took this photo during a family cookout.

I titled it Watermelon and Ginger

I got an A on this project, and how could I not with such a charismatic model!? :) 

Next up, we had to shoot a photo-essay. Simply put, we had to tell a story using only images (3-7). We weren't allowed to talk during the presentation of our images, they had to tell their own story and the class had to guess what that story was. I chose to put my camera to good use photographing mi amigo Ken's acoustic music festival. I managed to snag quite a few great images during that event and used a few as my photo-essay. 

I felt that the story was pretty evident and that my shots were pretty good... but alas I only got a B on this assignment. Tomorrow is my final exam for Intro to Photography and hopefully I do better on the final than I did on the midterm (got a C, but in my defense there were questions on there that we never covered in class). 

After tomorrow I get a 2 week break from school and then it's off to Intro to IT. Wootsors!

Mediocre Man vs. The Halfwit Professor

So, GF and I are going to Jamaica at the end of October (woohoo!) and this just so happens to coincide with the last week of term 1. I talked to my (extremely attractive) adviser and she recommended I contact the professor for the course I am taking next term to see if we could work out something that allowed me to take the course rather than skipping a term. So I sent him this email:

Good day Professor Halfwit (names changed to protect the retarded),

My name is Mr. Awesome (name changed to protect my anonymity), I am planning on taking your Intro to IT course next term. I spoke with *hot adviser girl* about a small issue I have regarding the end of the term. My girlfriend and I have planned and paid for a trip to Jamaica the week of October 23-30. This just happens to coincide with the last week of the term, and I imagine finals as well. *Hot adviser girl* suggested that I contact you to see if you would be amenable to the idea of allowing me to do some extra course work and perhaps taking the final early so as to avoid the necessity of taking off the entirety of the term to accommodate our trip. Any assistance you might offer in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Mr. Awesome

Now, I know I can sometimes fall into the trap of over utilizing my sizable vocabulary ( I swear I try to only use my powers for good... really!) but I thought I was pretty straight forward and concise in asking if I could do more work and do my final early so as to take the last week of the course off to go to Jamaica. Feel free to inform me otherwise.This is what I got back:

The only option is to complete the final early.  You would need to complete all course requirements and take the final  in week 7.

HW

Ummm... isn't that what I just fucking said?  Thanks for not answering my question at all! Now I am trying to figure out a way of responding that doesn't involve me calling him a complete fucktard while still eliciting the yes or no response I was originally after. Best to not berate the person I am begging favors from I suppose. 

On the plus side, if this mouth breather can become a college professor, maybe I should listen to my English professor and become a teacher, after all... I couldn't possibly be as bad as this baddie.

Mediocre Man vs. Vacation & Turning 32

Last week I decided it was high time I took a vacation. I didn't necessarily need to go anywhere or do anything, I just needed to get away from work for a while to reinvigorate myself. Besides, I hate working on my birthday. I don't make a big deal out of my birthday (unless it gains me an advantage, e.g. "It's my birthday... you should get up and get me a drink" etc.) but I hate being in work for my birthday. It all started a few years back when I worked at BN and the M.O.D, Lauren, decided that my birthday teamed with a full house for open mic night would be an excellent opportunity to surprise me in the middle of the store with balloons and that obnoxious "happy birthday to you" song sung by a room full of strangers. Suffice to say I was not impressed.

Aaaaaanyway, I took the week off and did as little as humanly possible. Friday night we took our niece Kass for the night and had a nice relaxing evening at home. We watched Matilda and ate popcorn. The girls woke me up with the intoxicating aroma of bacon and pancakes and we picked up our other niece Kota to go see Despicable Me (a highly entertaining jaunt that I can't recommend enough). Saturday evening I stopped at the bottom of the hill to hang out with our friend Lissa for her birthday celebration, which conveniently coincided with a fireworks display for the Exeter Independence Festival. Mr. Maggie (James) regaled us with an impromptu set of accoustic tunes and fun was had by all. Sunday-Wednesday were pretty chill days of hanging out at home alone playing WoW and tearing through seasons 2 and 3 of Lost.

Wednesday the GF took the day off and we had a nice day together that consisted of me saying "it's my birthday, you should *insert menial task here*" a lot. Thursday-Saturday consisted of more WoW, more Lost up to midway through season 4, and a quick hop out to Portsmouth on Friday for lunch at the Red Hook Brewery with a few friends/coworkers that share the same birthday (give or take a day). I had their chicken tenders (meh) and a couple Mudslinger Spring Ales which were quite tasty.

Sunday we had some family over to the house for a small summer BBQ which turned out to be a pretty nice day (as in nobody tried to kill anyone else, which in my family seems to be quite an accomplishment these days). I managed to get a few decent shots for my photography course during the BBQ which I will share in another entry soon.

Over all a very relaxing week off from the hell pit. I totally needed it and think I will now be able to get to the finish line (more on that later) with a little more ease.

Mediocre Man vs. Depth of Field

Let's see, Not much to report on really. I am heading into my 3rd week of Intro to Photography and I have not pulled the trigger on a single shot of my own. Last Friday I did help Lissa shoot a wedding but she did all the heavy hitting stuff. She loaned me one of her camera's equipped with a sweet lens (note to self: find out what the range was on that lens and buy one) and I wandered the periphery shooting random stuff. All the shots I took were on her camera, and thus her card, but she did send me this shot that I managed to snag and it isn't all that bad.

Beyond that, I really haven't done any shooting beyond snapping off a few shots of a flower out front of our house yesterday in order to play around with depth of field. I think I finally understand the concept and managed to get a few halfway decent examples of how to alter the focal length in order to blur out the background.

Still, despite not having shot much I am having a blast with this class. I know I need to get out there and shoot, but yeah, me and 90+ degree weather with ungodly humidity don't exactly get along. I will have plenty of opportunity to shoot during the music fest on the 31st, and I will endeavor to get out there and at least pull the trigger on something else before then. I have a photojournalism project coming up next month for class so maybe I can use the fest shots to make something up for that. :)